Law would make it harder to close 'essential' services

Tuesday

Dec 19, 2017 at 3:28 PM

Rebecca Hyman rhyman@tauntongazette.com

TAUNTON - Nurses will testify at the State House Tuesday in favor of legislation to tighten oversight of “essential hospital service closures” – in the face of Steward Health Care’s plan to close the maternity unit at Morton Hospital as early as March 29, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

“Maternity services are critical to our community,” said HollyAnn Shea, a registered nurse who works in maternity at Morton, in a written statement issued by the MNA Monday.

“Taunton has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic and has the highest rate of children born to addicted mothers. Many of our patients also struggle financially and either take cabs or walk to the hospital. Sending them outside of our community to receive care is a huge disservice to patients and their families,” she said.

“This law requires community oversight of proposed closures and means stronger enforcement of existing laws.”

The hearing before the Joint Committee on Public Health will take place at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 19.

My testimony in favor of S.1199 in front of the Public Health Comm. and my alert re: maternity care withdrawal at Taunton’s Morton Hospital. pic.twitter.com/axXVtQt1Y9

— Sen. Marc R. Pacheco (@MarcRPacheco) December 19, 2017

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, and state Rep. Edward Coppinger, D-Boston, would change existing law by:

· Extending the notification period from 90 days to 120 days and requiring community input in advance

· Directing the attorney general to seek an injunction against the closure of any essential services for the duration of the notice period

· Barring a hospital from eligibility for licensure or expansion for three years if the Department of Public Health deems the service proposed for closure “essential”

· Requiring community oversight of any approved plans for access to necessary services following a closure or discontinuation of services

In late October, Morton temporarily closed its maternity unit and began diverting labor and delivery patients to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton after Partners Health Care pulled out of a contract to supply neonatal doctors at Morton.

Since then, Steward has notified the Department of Public Health of its intention to begin the process of permanently closing the maternity unit.

At the same time, Steward has said it continues to look for a replacement for Partners in the hopes of keeping the maternity unit open.

According to the Massachusetts Nurses Association, there is no public transportation from Taunton to Brockton and closing the maternity unit would present a hardship to many patients.

Morton Hospital has the highest rate of drug-addicted newborn babies, according to a report by the Health Policy Commission, at 75.2 out of every 1,000 live births, the MNA said.

That compares to 65.5 per 1,000 at the next highest at Charlton Memorial Hospital and 17.6 per 1,000 at Good Samaritan, the second lowest rate, the MNA said.

The earliest possible date Morton Hospital can close its maternity unit is March 29, according to a letter from the state Department of Public Health.

On Nov. 13, Morton notified the DPH it intends to begin the process of closing the maternity unit permanently, the letter states.

State law requires that the hospital notify employees of a planned closure of an “essential service” 30 days prior to filing its 90-day notice with the DPH.

But the email Morton sent out to hospital staff on Nov. 14 did not meet the notification requirements, so the clock did not yet start ticking, the DPH said in a Dec. 12 letter to Joseph Weinstein, chief medical officer of Steward Health Care System, Morton’s parent company.

“Morton Hospital’s Nov. 14 email did not comply with the regulatory requirements for notification to staff because it does not contain sufficient information to notify interested parties that the hospital intended to close the OB program,” Eric Sheehan wrote in the Dec. 12 letter to Weinstein.

Sheehan is the bureau director of licensure unit manager for the Bureau of Health Care Quality and Safety at the DPH.

A subsequent notice from Morton to employees on Nov. 29 met that requirement, meaning the first day Morton could issue the 90-day notice to the DPH is Dec. 29 and the earliest date it could close the maternity unit is March 29, Sheehan said.

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